The UK economy is “on the mend” but continued growth is likely to be more subdued, according to Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.

Dobson’s comments follow the International Monetary Fund’s backing of the coalition austerity measures this week.

Dobson told Recruiter: “We saw a growth peak in the second quarter of the year. The GDP figures were very strong 1.2% growth.

“Our data suggests that growth will slow in the service and construction sectors and manufacturing.

“Given that employment is a lagging indicator, job creation has not slowed but if activity growth continues to reduce, we would expect the labour market to continue to recover but at a muted pace.

“The economy is on the mend but it is unlikely that we will see the growth of Q2. In fact, it is highly likely it will slow by year end.”